


If Life Were A Breeze

by gunblade



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Awkward Crush, Canon Universe, M/M, Present Tense, teenagers being teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 15:42:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11383251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gunblade/pseuds/gunblade
Summary: “We’re on the same team and all, but I still wanna beat you.”Keith rolls his eyes.“It’s friendly!”“Usually.”





	If Life Were A Breeze

**Author's Note:**

> i just want this to be natural, easy, real stuff that can resonate with others, feel? so here you go. enjoy some klance, my friends.

“I just don’t think anyone takes me seriously,” he’s saying as he collapses on the couch. “Like, I have talents, you know? I’m important to this team!”  


Keith exhales. “Who are you trying to convince?”

“I--” but Lance fumbles, fingers curling into fists. “I don’t know.”  


Silence falls. There’s static in the haze surrounding them; they’re caught in an impending thunderstorm of heavy emotions itching to release. Lance has clearly been bottling this for quite a while, and Keith has become a sounding board.

He doesn’t mind.

“I wanna be important to this team.” Lance braces his arms on his thighs and drops his shoulders. “Everyone else has--I don’t know-- _proven_ themselves somehow.”  


“And you’re saying you haven’t?”  


He scoffs.

“No, really, Lance.” Keith likewise hunches forward. “You don’t think you have?”  


“I _do_ think I have!” Their eyes meet. “It’s not like I haven’t tried! It’s just...I feel...” their gazes soon break as Lance seeks answers on the floor. “I feel left out.” Despite himself, Lance offers a derisive laugh. “Pretty lame of me, right?”  


“No.” Keith feels Lance’s attentive stare and is overcome by the obligation to elaborate. “I know how you feel.”

“Everyone always respects you, Keith.” Keith lets out a laugh to which Lance completely  _ **balks**_. “Uh, excuse me? I’m serious! Like, even when you were kicked outta the Garrison, everyone still talked about how great you were!”

“Okay, but I was _kicked **out**_. Besides, I’m part Galra, remember? That didn’t exactly sit well with everyone here, and honestly, I still feel pretty weird about it.”

Lance acknowledges him with a solemn nod.

“So, I mean, I _do_ understand, but we’re part of this team and we are important. Everyone is.”  


“That was a good Shiro impression.”  


He snorts. “Thanks.”

“You know, you really would make a good leader.”  


Keith is taken aback.

“It would’ve _killed_ me to say that before.” Lance is smiling and there’s affection there that Keith doesn’t miss.

_How far they’ve come._

“Change of heart?”  


“I was so jealous of you.” Keith hadn’t been expecting this, yet Lance bears only sincerity in his tone. “I didn’t even know you, man, and I was jealous.”  


“Mm, so _that’s_ what it was.”  


“Yeah, and I’m sorry for being a jerk to you. I mean, I still _kiiindaaa_ see you as a rival, but like, in a good way.” Keith’s confusion has Lance laughing. “We’re on the same team and all, but I still wanna beat you.”  


Keith rolls his eyes.

“It’s friendly!”  


“ _Usually_.”  


“Wh--” **defeat** , it seems, by the puff of air Lance releases. “Ugh, _yes_ , usually.”

A new silence settles around them. It’s soft, _familiar_ , yet Keith is unable to shake his concern. His gaze follows Lance as he makes a show of folding his arms and turning his chin away; Keith, for his part, knits his brows and pushes on.

“I’ve always felt like an outcast.” Lance’s attention snaps back to Keith then, and Keith falters under the curious stare. “I, uh...I never really knew _why_. I guess I always thought...maybe I was bad with people. I always said the wrong thing or got frustrated too easily, and I’m sure that was part of it, but lately, I’ve been wondering.” He sighs, “maybe I’ve always felt alien because...I am one.”  


“Alright, so teeechnically, that’s true, but that could be why you were born for space travel. I mean, **everyone’s** an alien out here!”  


There’s a pregnant pause during which Keith openly stares at Lance. He’s flabbergasted. “Did y--” his lips tighten. “Did you really just--” 

“Sure, you were an alien on Earth. I get it, dude. You were a lone cowboy, lost in angst, _yada yada yada_ , and now you know the truth and it’s like:  _I should’ve known_! But you shouldn’t feel like that anymore, man. We’re on an alien castle-ship, going to alien planets and fighting _actual_ aliens!”  


Keith’s irritation surmounts with a pop. “Lance, I’m trying to bond here!”

“Huh?”  


He clenches his jaw in an effort to contain himself. Lance isn’t wrong, he thinks, but did he really have to cut so deep?

“You said you felt unimportant,” Keith’s saying, his voice strained through his impatience, “and I’m telling you, I understand. I really do.”  


“Oh.” Lance shifts in his seat. “Okay. Sorry, I get it.”  


“You’re a good shot.”

“What?”  


“I _said_ you’re a good shot.” Keith is straightening, and his (natural) intensity seems to be making Lance uneasy. “You’re also good at keeping track of our surroundings.” He considers for a moment. “You’re grounded when the rest of us aren’t. Sometimes...I get so worked up, I guess, that I react without thinking, but you’re always there to snap me out of it.”

Lance’s expression lightens as a smile grows across his lips. There’s gratitude there and **quiznak** , Keith feels his cheeks flare. This wasn’t supposed to be so _embarrassing_.

He expects teasing, yet what he gets is a quiet, “ _thanks_.”

A moment passes then. The two make eye contact, sincerely, warmly, and there they stay until Lance begins to stand. “Hey, it’s getting pretty late. Maybe we should head to bed.”

“Oh, yeah. Guess it’s hard to tell when the stars are always out.”  


Lance laughs. “You seem like a night kinda guy, though, so this has to be your speed.”

Keith rises and the two begin to walk in time. “You’re not?”

“Nah, I like my beauty rest.”  


“Beauty rest?” he lets out a quiet laugh. “I see.”  


“Some of the best skin care is getting the right amount of sleep. That, keeping your face clean and fresh, and drinking a good amount of water.”  


“Are you trying to tell me something?”  


Lance chuffs his dismissal. “What? No way. You’re just naturally beautiful.”

He says it with such ease that Keith almost misses the way his heart stops _beat_ - _beating_. Everything feels warm yet words escape him; he’s dazed, and when they make it to Lance’s room, Keith walks right by.

“Thanks again, man. I’ll see you in the morning.” Lance grins and reaches out, clapping Keith’s shoulder.  


Keith, for his part, is struggling to maintain composure. “Uh, sure. No problem. Night.”

“Later!”  


It’s not until he’s seated at the edge of his bed that he can seem to think clearly once more.

“He really called me beautiful.”  



End file.
